Proverbs 27:1

27:1 We know not what a day may bring forth. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but presuming upon to-morrow. We must not put off the great work of conversion, that one thing needful. 2. There may be occasion for us to justify ourselves, but not to praise ourselves. 3,4. Those who have no command of their passions, sink under the load. 5,6. Plain and faithful rebukes are better, not only than secret hatred, but than love which compliments in sin, to the hurt of the soul. 7. The poor have a better relish of their enjoyments, and are often more thankful for them, than the rich. In like manner the proud and self-sufficient disdain the gospel; but those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, find comfort from the meanest book or sermon that testifies of Christ Jesus. 8. Every man has his proper place in society, where he may be safe and comfortable.

Boast not thyself of tomorrow,.... Or, "of tomorrow day" (t). Either of having a tomorrow, or of any future time; no man can assure himself of more than the present time; for, however desirable long life is, none can be certain of it; so says the poet (u): for though there is a common term of man's life, threescore years and ten, yet no one can be sure of arriving to it; and, though there may be a human probability of long life, in some persons of hale and strong constitutions, yet there is no certainty, since life is so frail a thing; the breath of man is in his nostrils, which is soon and easily stopped; his life is but as a vapour, which appears for a little while, and then vanishes away; all flesh is as grass, which in the morning flourishes, in the evening is cut down, and on the morrow is cast into the oven: man is like a flower, gay and beautiful for a season, but a wind, an easterly blasting wind, passes over it, and it is gone; his days are as a shadow that declineth towards the evening; they are as a hand's breadth; yea, his age is as nothing before the Lord.

Death is certain to all men, as the fruit of sin, by the appointment of God; and there is a certain time fixed for it, which cannot be exceeded; but of that day and hour no man knows; and therefore cannot boast of a moment of future time, or of a tomorrow, nor of what he shall enjoy on the morrow (w); for, what he has today he cannot be certain he shall have the next; he cannot assure himself of health and honour, of pleasures, riches, and friends; he may have health today, and sickness tomorrow; be in honour today, and in disgrace on the morrow: he may bid his soul eat, drink, and be merry, seeing he has much goods laid up for many years, and vainly say, tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant, when this night his soul may be required of him; he may have his wife and children, friends and relations, about him now, and before another day comes be stripped of them all; he may be in great affluence, and gave great substance for the present, and in a short time all may be taken from him, as Job's was; riches are uncertain things, they make themselves wings and flee away.

Proverbs 27:1 . Boast not thyself of to-morrow — Of any good thing which thou purposest to do, or hopest to receive to-morrow or hereafter; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth — What may happen in the space of one day to hinder thy designs or expectations. The day is said to bring forth what God, by his almighty power and providence, either causes or suffers to be brought forth or done in it. “The wise man,” says Melancthon, “here teaches us modesty; and prohibits those two great vices, confidence in ourselves, or any thing we have; and rashly undertaking unnecessary things, out of a foolish hope they will succeed according to our desires. Wise and good men will only meddle within the bounds of their calling; and will also depend on God for his blessing; but they will not attempt things without just cause, presuming they can carry them as they please.”

XXVII. (1) Boast not thyself of to-morrow.—This is forbidden also in James 4:13, sqq.; but there on the higher ground that it argues a want of submission to the will of Almighty God. This temper of mind, as well as the opposite one of too great anxiety for the morrow (Matthew 6:34), proceed from the same cause, too much dependence upon self, and are only to be met by learning to realise the love of God for His children (ibid., 26, 30, 33), and looking up to Him daily for protection, guidance, and support.

1 . a day ] This is taken to mean the (coming) day, the morrow , both by LXX. ( ἡ ἐπιοῦσα ), and Vulg. (superventura dies), as well as by some modern commentators (comp. St James 4:13-14 ); but the absence of the article shews that the rendering of A.V., which is followed by R.V., is right.

CHAPTER 27 Pr 27:1-27. 1. Do not confide implicitly in your plans (Pr 16:9; 19:21; Jas 4:13-15).Counsel against self-conceitedness, Proverbs 27:1,2. The evil effects of envy, Proverbs 27:4. The praises of a faithful friend, Proverbs 27:5-10. The different fruits of prudence and folly, Proverbs 27:11,12. Sundry rules and cautions, Proverbs 27:13-21. Of tomorrow; of any good thing which thou purposest to do or hopest to receive to-morrow, or hereafter; the thee being here put metonymically for things done or had in the thee, as Deu 4:32 Ecclesiastes 2:23. The same caution is given Jam 4:13, &c. What a day may bring forth; what may happen in the space of one day, which may hinder thy designs or expectations. The day is said to bring forth what God by his almighty power and providence doth either cause or suffer to be brought forth or done in it.

Verses 1-6. - These verses are grouped in pairs, each two being connected in subject. Verse 1. - Boast not thyself of tomorrow. He boasts himself ( Proverbs 25:14 ) of tomorrow who counts upon it presumptuously, settles that he will do this or that, as if his life was in his own power, and he could make sure of time. This is blindness and arrogance. For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Our Lord gave a lesson on this matter in the parable of the rich fool ( Luke 12 .); and an analogous warning, based on our verse, is given by St. James ( James 4:13 , etc.). On this topic moralists and poets are always dilating. Very familiar are the words of Horace ('Carm.,' 4:7, 17) - "Quis scit, an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summaeTempora di superi?" Euripides, 'Alc.,' 783 - Οὐκ ἔστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἐξεπίσταται Τὴν αὔριον μέλλουσαν εἰ βιώσεται Τὸ τῆςτύχης γὰρ ἀφανὲς οῖ προβήσεται Κἄστ οὐ διδακτόν οὐδ ἁλίσκεται τέχνη Every day in thy life, says the Arab, "is a leaf in thy history." Seneca wrote ('Thyest.,' 621) - "Nemo tam divos habuit faventesCrastinum ut possit sibi pelliceri,Res deus nostras celeri citatasTurbine versat." There is the adage, "Nescis quid serus vesper vehat." The LXX. has, as at ch. 3:28, "Thou knowest not what the next day ( ἡ ἐπιοῦσα ) shall bring forth." (For the expression, ἡ ἐπιοῦσα , comp. Acts 7:26 ; Acts 16:11 .) Proverbs 27:1